The Far Side of Forever

It's exam week here at StoneBridge, meaning the school year is almost over! Hallelujah! But we all have to survive exams first. I'll let you in on a little secret here: I hate exams. With a burning passion. In all honesty I really don't see the use for them. I know it's supposed to test how much they've learned over the semester, but what was the point of all the other tests I gave then? It's so hard to write a fair exam in science too because there's so much material covered. So I make it easy for my students (and myself). I just tell them the exams are the most missed questions from the tests and quizzes with a few that everyone did well on thrown in for easy points. I figure if they knew it three months ago, they probably still know at least part of it now. I know a lot of kids may cram and forget, but that's their issue. Surprisingly, most of my students retain the basic information throughout the year. They're all good kids, but I might b...

Recently I've been re-watching one of my all time favorite BBC miniseries: North & South. Richart Armitage as John Thornton and Daniela Denby-Ashe as Margaret Hale Basic storyline : A father, mother, and daughter from the rural south of England moves to the mill town of Milton in the north. Margaret, young, a little naive, and quite outspoken, meets local cotton mill owner John Thorton, a quiet, brooding character with a bit of a temper and a sarcastic tongue that could clip a hedge. Sparks soon fly between the two and not the good kind. These two can't be in the same room without one or the other starting a verbal sparring match. I love the story because both have character flaws and both end up the hero. It's a very true to life story. We've all known someone like Margaret Hale or John Thornton. Maybe we are them. So, if you love period dramas, or stuff from the BBC, check this one out. Now, when I first started this movie, I hated John Thornton. The bo...

Ok, so I'm at school right now and very bored (I'm the teacher, not the student). I actually don't have much to do since at the moment I'm subbing for another teacher and the kids are just taking a test. So what do I do? Find amusing Lord of the Rings and Hobbit pictures online. I love both and while looking up pictures of various people, mainly Thranduil today, (don't knock it - he's gorgeous!) I came across a few great ones. This is largely for my sister Ivy over at Revealed in Time . She has the same sick sense of humor I do. Mmmm...Elven goodness. That sword is epic. The upper potion of the blade is actually open scroll work. (You can see his hair through it) Also, the designs on the shoulders of his robe looks like spider webs.   Enjoying a family bonding moment here. (Yeah, I know Tauriel isn't family but she and Legolas would like to be!) Legolas: "Uh, Dad, does Mom know you still have these pictures of you two when you were datin...

So, I was browsing around online, searching for pictures from one of my all time favorite movies, "The Scarlet Pimpernel". I'll write a post sometime on the utter amazingness, wit, and beauty of this movie. Needless to say, I'm a tad bit obsessed. I know several parts of it by heart. Even so, I found out something new and interesting about it today. There was name that caught my eye in the cast list. Timothy Carlton. I knew I had heard that name before. Clicked on the name. Oh my. He's Benedict Cumberbatch's father.  Yes, the man who was half responsible for the beauty pictured above was in "The Scarlet Pimpernel".  Timothy Carlton played the Count De Beaulieu. He, his wife, and young son are called forward to be executed during The Reign of Terror. They are taken away, presumably to be parted from their heads, but the Scarlet Pimpernel and his men have other plans. They sneak the family out of the city in coffins and whisk them away to England.  Tim...

Hamlette at Hamlett's Soliloquy has nominated me for The Beautiful Blog Award! How sweet of her! Here are my answers to her questions: What's the first movie you can remember seeing? Honey I Shrunk The Kids (Wow, I am so old!) What's your favorite fruit? Raspberries What's your least-favorite kind of pie? I love pie of all kind, but if I had to skip one it would probably be rhubarb. If you could be any superhero(ine) for a day, who would you like to be? Thor. I'm part Scandinavian and he just rocks. :) What was your favorite picture book when you were a child? "Bonnie's Big Day" by James Herriot What was the last board/card game you played? Uno Do you prefer feather pillows or foam? Usually foam, but feathers are so nice.. What are three of your favorite blogs? Revealed in Time Hamlette's Soliloquy Classic Ramblings All right, so I have a few nominees for the award myself: Ivy at Revealed in Time (She taugh...

My favorite comedy by Shakespeare is hands-down "Much Ado About Nothing". It's an easy read with memorable characters, a good balance of drama and comedy, and has some of the best monologues and pithy statements Shakespeare ever came up with. It's also interesting because the story at first seems to revolve around two certain characters, then you realize that it's actually about two others. There are several minor characters that lend to the humor, or evil, of the story but all the storylines converge and like the title suggests, the drama all ends up a big fuss over nothing. In 1993 a movie version of the play was made by Kenneth Branagh. With an all star cast and beautiful filming locations in Italy, it was an instant hit. So, let's delve right in! As per Shakespeare's style, we'll introduce the Dramatis Personae (cast of characters) first. Kenneth Branagh as Benedick Benedick is a soldier from the city of Padua in Italy. He is a fightin...